A few hours out last October

[Steve Walker]

Dave, what fly line would you recommend for that rod?

[Vagabond]

Dave, what fly line would you recommend for that rod?

Depends upon the water you intend to fish

 

If it is open, then a double taper as low a number as you can manage to cast with - try a #3 to start with, The point is, that distance and control depend upon the weight of line you have got out beyond the rod tip - either a long length of light line or a shorter length of heavier line, Avoid forward taper lines - they are too obvious and land too heavily on small streams - accurate and delicate presentation is very important

 

If you fish very overgrown small streams - as I do - then you need to throw away the usual advice. Forget long leaders. On my streams the trout is very often only about 15 feet away from my rod tip - so as weight of fly line outside the rod tip is needed you can't afford to have too long a leader - i use about a yard or so of leader (shock, horror) The other thing is to use a level line. Any sort of tapered line is useless, because the thick part of that line will never get outside your rod tip.

If you use any sort of taper, then short range switch casting becomes difficult **** (on the sort of streams I'm talking about, I would come home from a morning's fishing with a couple of trout without having made a single overhead cast all morning )- roll, side and switch casting are required - and a few tricks of your own will soon become part of the game.

 

***Why the difficulty ? Because the weight of fly line between reel and bottom ring exceeds the weight of line beyond the rod tip, so as soon as the fly hits the water, or even before, it gets drawn back. Bear in mind you may be crouched in rank vegetation, lying prone, or even hanging head-lower-than-heels over a wooded stream bank

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It is not just the angler stood on his head, it is the logistics of fly fishing !

Edited March 24, 2017 by Vagabond

[Rusty]

Chesters, I've used epoxy rather than varnish before, but I'm always worried that it will be a swine to remove if I have to re-ring again. Not a problem I want on a rod I can't just replace!

Actually it isn't Steve, I tried epoxy when I restored a rod a few years ago. I didn't get on with it and couldn't produce a good finish in the end (despite Budgie's help) but I did find it very easy to remove once set. Just cut along the ring foot and peel it back, it'll come off along with the whipping in one piece if you're lucky.

 

Good luck at Britford, Stuart the bailiff will point you in the right direction but if I were fluff chucking I'd start at the lower weirpool and work my way down to the lower limit, a mixture of wide and narrow sections with quite fast water there and not much crap behind you to get tangled in. Then I'd head back upstream along the old river from the same pool. Give me a call if you want info on parking, the main car park is easy to find but you can save some walking by parking further downstream by the church.

[Steve Walker]

Actually it isn't Steve, I tried epoxy when I restored a rod a few years ago. I didn't get on with it and couldn't produce a good finish in the end (despite Budgie's help) but I did find it very easy to remove once set. Just cut along the ring foot and peel it back, it'll come off along with the whipping in one piece if you're lucky.

 

Well that's something. I was worried it would adhere to the blank too strongly.

[Steve Walker]

Yep, I have lost count of how many whippings I have tied and varnished in 75 years of making my own rods, and never, never, have I been satisfied with the matching of different shades of whipping.

 

It's gone a bit too red once varnished, but it's not *too* far off...

 

[Steve Walker]

Depends upon the water you intend to fish

 

If it is open, then a double taper as low a number as you can manage to cast with - try a #3 to start with, The point is, that distance and control depend upon the weight of line you have got out beyond the rod tip - either a long length of light line or a shorter length of heavier line, Avoid forward taper lines - they are too obvious and land too heavily on small streams - accurate and delicate presentation is very important

 

If you fish very overgrown small streams - as I do - then you need to throw away the usual advice. Forget long leaders. On my streams the trout is very often only about 15 feet away from my rod tip - so as weight of fly line outside the rod tip is needed you can't afford to have too long a leader - i use about a yard or so of leader (shock, horror) The other thing is to use a level line. Any sort of tapered line is useless, because the thick part of that line will never get outside your rod tip.

If you use any sort of taper, then short range switch casting becomes difficult **** (on the sort of streams I'm talking about, I would come home from a morning's fishing with a couple of trout without having made a single overhead cast all morning )- roll, side and switch casting are required - and a few tricks of your own will soon become part of the game.

 

***Why the difficulty ? Because the weight of fly line between reel and bottom ring exceeds the weight of line beyond the rod tip, so as soon as the fly hits the water, or even before, it gets drawn back. Bear in mind you may be crouched in rank vegetation, lying prone, or even hanging head-lower-than-heels over a wooded stream bank

.

It is not just the angler stood on his head, it is the logistics of fly fishing !

 

 

Interesting points, and yes, I've come across those issues - particularly the weight of line at the butt dragging the line back through the rings. I have a #3 which is a WF but is a "delicate" taper, I shall give it a try with that and go from there!

[Vagabond]

Yep, I think it an issue that everyone has to solve for themselves, The point is that if you can get your rod-tip within 15 ft of a trout without spooking it, there is more than one way of getting the fly in front of the fish

 

A.K.Best (John Geirach's mate) said "The difference between a good fly fisherman and an excellent one is very often one split shot." You can't get a fly forward unless there is weight between rod tip and fly with which to do so.

 

The rod looks fine, but you might try the effect of another thin coat of varnish to all whippings

Edited March 27, 2017 by Vagabond

[Steve Walker]

Yes, I think another coat of varnish on the rest may help.

[Martin56]

Sorry for the intervention guys but maybe a visit to a Haberdashers (sewing shop) might provide a solution??

 

They do Nylon thread in endless colours - more than any fishing outlet offers - It's the same stuff but with more choices & the dyes used may be more stable & robust re the colour fastness AND they don't charge Fishing Tackle Prices!!

 

Clothes need washing & the stitching needs to stay the same whatever.

 

Nice to see anglers who take a lot of pride - even though the fish can't see it.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Martin56

[Steve Walker]

I just rummage through the threads in my fly tying box! I think a lot of fly tying materials are bought from the clothing industry and sold at a markup - I believe you can get equivalent synthetic non-texturised threads from sewing shops, but you've got to know what you're looking for.

 

The colour change isn't down to colour fastness, though, it's the optical effect of wetting - the same way a pebble on the beach looks a different colour when it's dry than when it's wet, or your fishing trousers look a different colour after an unexpected downpour than before